Most commonly reported Work Activities

• Thinking Creatively Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• Interacting With Computers Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• Getting Information Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Organising, Planning, and Prioritising Work Developing specific goals and plans to prioritise, organise, and accomplish your work.
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems Analysing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Developing Objectives and Strategies Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
• Documenting/Recording Information Entering, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
• Communicating with Persons Outside Organisation Communicating with people outside the organisation, representing the organisation to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events Identifying information by categorising, estimating, recognising differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Most commonly reported Work Tasks

• Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays.
• Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterisations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material.
• Prepare works in appropriate format for publication, and send them to publishers or producers.
• Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers.
• Confer with clients, editors, publishers, or producers to discuss changes or revisions to written material.
• Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events.
• Conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, using sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews.
• Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organise material accordingly.
• Follow appropriate procedures to get copyrights for completed work.
• Attend book launches and publicity events, or conduct public readings.

Further Information

• Screenwriter - from: N.C.S. [UK]

This occupation is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests:

Creative

Creative people are drawn to careers and activities that enable them to take responsibility for the design, layout or sensory impact of something (visual, auditory etc). They may be atrracted to the traditional artistic pursuits such as painting, sculpture, singing, or music. Or they may show more interest in design activities, such as architecture, animation, or craft areas, such as pottery and ceramics.

Creative people use their personal understanding of people and the world they live in to guide their work. Creative people like to work in unstructured workplaces, enjoy taking risks and prefer a minimum of routine.

Linguistic

The Linguistic's interests are usually focused on ideas and information exchange. They tend to like reading a lot, and enjoy discussion about what has been said. Some will want to write about their own ideas and may follow a path towards journalism, story writing or editing. Others will develop skills in other languages, perhaps finding work as a translator or interpreter. Most Linguistic types will enjoy the opportunity to teach or instruct people in a topic they are interested in.

There are many pathways into screenwriting. These do not always involve education and qualifications. Courses and training will build on your experience and craft to develop in a highliy networked occupation and sector. Writers may write alone, in teams, and liaise with the production process during development. 

There are a number of courses available countrywide in the field of television and film  that will give the student a broad knowledge of the process of screenwriting.  

Training & Development 

FET Centre Traineeship: Media production in centres around Ireland at NFQ Levels 5-6 Search FET Courses

FET PLC Courses: Creative digital media, TV & Film studies, Film production, Media studies around Ireland at NFQ Levels 5-6 Search FET PLC Courses

Apprenticeship: Animator Apprenticeship NFQ level 9 Search Apprenticeships

Higher Education CAO Entry: Digital media, TV & Film production, Media & Communication, Arts & media studies NFQ Levels 7-8 Search CAO courses

Professional Development 

Postgraduate Study Options Arts & Media, Creative digital media NFQ level 9

Screen skills Work based learning programs  Training for production staff may be on-the-job. The company may organise short off-the-job courses for trainees.

IFTV Irish Film & Television network For a list of TV/ Film production companies and Career roles

Careersinscreen

Last Updated: April, 2023

Salary Range (thousands per year)* €17k - €100k

As Screenwriting involves irregular work, incomes can vary greatly from script to script and year to year. TV series and advertisments may provide steady incomes, while movies and documenteries lead to big one off payments.

But most work comes with no guarantee of good renumeration and cheques will have to provide for the quiet periods between jobs.

Data Source(s):
Indeed/ Payscale.com/ IFTN/ Gov.ie/ DEASP

Last Updated: July, 2024

* The lower figures typically reflect starting salaries. Higher salaries are awarded to those with greater experience and responsibility. Positions in Dublin sometimes command higher salaries.

View Salary information from Indeed.ie
Note: data not aways available

This information has been derived from the Solas National Skills Bulletin (2023).

Employment grew strongly between 2021 and 2022, with an additional 7,300 persons employed. As illustrated in the CSO Census data below, employment is spread across a number of roles; since 2016, the strongest growth, in absolute terms, was for graphic designers and authors, writers and translators.

New employment permits issued for this occupation in 2022 were primarily for film/TV and animation/visual effects (VFX) roles but also for linguistics experts in the ICT sector. There was also a high volume of recent job hires in line with the recent employment increase. The data does not point to overall issues with recruitment for these roles.

• Irish Writers Centre

  • 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1
  • (01) 872 1302
  • [email protected]
  • Click Here

• IFTN Irish film & Television network

  • Irish Film and Television Network 32 Lower Leeson Street Dublin2
  • (0) 1 905 3595
  • [email protected]
  • Click Here

• Screen Ireland

  • Click Here